FRESHviews
Free tools
make labels
easier
FOR MAILING holiday cards
or sending out mass mailings
during any time of the year,
the task of preparing labels
can be time consuming. Help
is available and, better yet,
it’s free.
PAUL & SARAH EDWARDS: LIFESTYLES FOR THE MILLENNIUM
costs, office expenses, travel, health insurance,
vacation and sick leave, and retirement benefits
into consideration when setting your fees.
Don’t forget you need to add on a reasonable
profit so you can expand and grow your business.
Do quote fees openly and clearly upfront
and get agreement, preferably in writing, before
starting to work.
Do explain the way you work so the customer
understands why doing the job in a ”cheaper” way
Charging what would actually be more expensive and will not
achieve what he or she wants.
you’re worth Do calculate all costs and profit in any fixed fee
you quote. Or, if you will be charging a fixed hourly
fee plus costs, make that clear upfront as well.
Do let a prospective client know beforehand if
you will be charging a fee for your sales call, initial
consultation or proposal development. Don’t
surprise clients with a bill.
Do discuss any possible additional cost
increases that you foresee arising with your
clients, and obtain their authorization before
proceeding with the project.
Never sell yourself short. Value what you
provide. But remember: The only surprise your
clients should have when they get the bill is what
an outstanding product or service they got for
the agreed-upon price. C
Paul & Sarah
Edwards are
pioneers in the
home-business
field. They can
be reached on
the Web at www.
pinemountain
institute.com.
Avery Dennison Corporation, maker of labels, cards,
binders and other office
products, offers free software
on its Web site, www.avery.
com, to make printing labels,
dividers and business cards
a snap on computers using
Microsoft® Office.
One downloadable
tool is the Avery® Wizard,
which integrates with the
Office toolbar to give one-click access. Templates for
your projects are available
for current Avery products,
and mailing lists can easily
be imported from Microsoft
Excel, Outlook and other
database programs for mail
merge in minutes.
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON reasons small and
home-based businesses struggle is that they
chronically undercharge. Don’t make that mistake.
Here’s a list of do’s and don’ts to help you
establish a fair price for your services.
Don’t discount your prices for fear of not
getting enough business, and don’t feel embarrassed to openly charge a fair fee for what you
offer. Establish yourself in a specialty where you
can excel at what you offer and charge accordingly.
Don’t forget to cover your out-of-pocket
expenses and your indirect costs for overhead and
benefits in the fee you quote. Take advertising
The Wizard also makes
it easy to insert your company logo in a document.
It works best with Avery
products but may also be
used with compatible
products made by other
m anufacturers.
A holiday edition is
currently available to add
festive themes to your documents and mailings.
A wide range of Avery
products is available in
Costco warehouses and on
costco.com. C
IT’S A DILEMMA for small
businesses: How do you get the
message out about your product
or service when the funds are not
there for advertising or market-
ing. With a little ingenuity and
daring, you can find an audi-
ence—and new customers.
Costco member Richard
Laermer (www.punkmarketing.
com), an authority on marketing
and co-author with Mark
Simmons of Punk Marketing
(HarperCollins, 2007), suggests
thinking untraditionally about
reaching customers and using
free technology tools for results.
Here are a couple of ideas.
Join the blog world. “Get in
the blogosphere and do your own
frequently updated blogs, written
about a firm’s products by a
trusted source within the company,” advises Laermer. “It’s an
informal and honest way of connecting with consumers.”
He adds, “People want to
hear about what’s in your
head. Don’t make statements,
just be yourself and share.”
Web sites such as
Blogger.com allow you to set
up a blog at no cost and are
user friendly. Without experience or technical know-how,
you can have a blog up and
running in no time.
Use social networking sites.
A good example is MySpace,
which “attracts hordes of 16- to
34-year-old consumers and is a
feeding ground for marketers
needing to reach this elusive
group who don’t care as much
about TV,” says Laermer.
Other social networking
sites can reach other demographic groups. If your product
or service targets the over- 40
crowd, try TBD.com, Eons.com
or BOOMj.com.
Add some video. You can
Hip marketing tips to
attract new customers
PHOTODISC
add video to your social networking page to show off something you sell. “And make it fun,”
says Laermer. “Use your mobile
phone’s (or digital camera’s)
video abilities.”
A simple Google search
will unearth a host of free
video-editing software sites.
When customers start responding to your postings, be
sure to add them as “friends” and
you’ll be on your way to building
a new network of customers.
And, as Laermer reminds,
“Remember to stay in touch.” C
